Winter Precipitation Microphysics Characterized by Polarimetric Radar and Video Disdrometer Observations in Central Oklahoma

Abstract

The study of precipitation in different phases is important to understanding the physical processes that occur in storms, as well as to improving their representation in numerical weather prediction models. A 2D video disdrometer was deployed about 30 km from a polarimetric weather radar in Norman, Oklahoma, (KOUN) to observe winter precipitation events during the 2006/07 winter season. These events contained periods of rain, snow, and mixed-phase precipitation. Five-minute particle size distributions were generated from the disdrometer data and fitted to a gamma distribution; polarimetric radar variables were also calculated for comparison with KOUN data. It is found that snow density adjustment improves the comparison substantially, indicating the importance of accounting for the density variability in representing model microphysics.